Toronto is not one housing market, it is about six of them stacked on top of each other, and the job changes completely depending on which one your house belongs to. A Victorian semi in Riverdale, a post-war bungalow in North York and a twelfth-floor condo on the waterfront have almost nothing in common except the permit office. We work across all of them.
What the housing stock means for the work
The older core — Cabbagetown, Riverdale, the Annex, Leslieville, Parkdale — is largely Victorian and Edwardian semis and row houses. Knob-and-tube wiring, balloon framing, lath-and-plaster walls and rubble foundations all turn up. Opening a wall here is rarely just opening a wall.
North York, Etobicoke and Scarborough are mostly post-war: bungalows, side-splits and backsplits from the 1950s and 60s on generous lots. These are the houses where rear additions, second storeys and basement suites make the most sense, because there is room to do it.
The downtown and midtown condo stock is a different discipline again — building rules, elevator bookings, service corridors and strict working hours, and no structural work without the corporation’s engineer.
Permits in Toronto
Toronto Building issues permits for the whole amalgamated city, so the same process covers the former Etobicoke, York, North York, East York and Scarborough. Work is carried out to the Ontario Building Code. Anything that needs relief from the zoning by-law — a rear addition too close to a lot line, a third storey, a second suite where the zoning does not permit one — goes to the Committee of Adjustment for the relevant district panel, and that adds months rather than weeks. We will tell you which category your job falls into before you commit to anything.
The jobs that come up most in Toronto
- Kitchen renovation
- Bathroom renovation
- Basement finishing
- Home extensions & additions
- Structural alterations & steelwork
- Rewiring & electrical upgrades
- Roof repair
- Interior & exterior painting
That is not the whole list — see all services for everything we cover.
Where in Toronto
Downtown and the waterfront, The Annex and Yorkville, Riverdale and Leslieville, Cabbagetown, Parkdale and Roncesvalles, The Junction, High Park and Bloor West, Midtown and Davisville, Forest Hill, North York, Etobicoke, East York, and everywhere in between.
What we need to give you a price
The address, what you want done, and photographs of the space if you have them. If it is a bigger job we will want to see it in person before quoting, because a price given without looking is a price that changes later. You get the quote in writing, with materials shown separately from labour, so you can compare it against anyone else’s.
Other areas we cover
Scarborough, Mississauga, Brampton, Markham, Vaughan, Durham Region.